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| He looked at me and said: “No, while those objectives are all admirable – your one most important objective is to – find your replacement.” |
I have served as senior decision maker
(president) for two “Not for Profit” organizations for a total of more than 10
years. For me, it was a way of giving back and contributing in my
community. While the rewards of
contributing, working with like-minded altruistic professionals and helping
change people lives was great – I learned a very important lesson that I would
like to pass along should you be considering participating in a not for profit
organization in any decision making capacity.
The situation unfolded some 8 years ago
when I chose to take on the position of president for a not for profit
organization. I really had no experience
but I wanted to find out more about what I was capable of and what I might be
able to contribute. After being elected
to the position one of Board of Directors approached me privately and asked
“What do you think your primary objective should be?” After a bit of thought I
regurgitated the usual objectives, including some “boiler plate” mission
statement objectives that the organization was committed to.
My initial thoughts on the question,
suggested that perhaps this senior Board Member, who had a great deal of
experience on many prestigious Boards of Directors was not confident in my
abilities and was perhaps testing me in some way. After my response (and I am
paraphrasing here) he said quietly “No, while those objectives are all
admirable – your one most important objective is to – find your
replacement.” Now I was certain ….this
person did not have a lot of confidence in my leadership abilities. At that point he turned and walked away and
he did not say another word…nor did I have any chance to ask about what the
comment meant. I felt terrible…my first day as president of this Not For
Profit…and I was being asked to seek my replacement as quickly as possible.
At this point I decided to make the best of
it and keep a stiff upper lip and continue. Months passed and I attended a number of
in-person and teleconference meetings in my new position and did not have any occasion
to find out more about the comment. A year passed and I was asked to take on a
second Not for Profit senior decision making position – and in spite of my
misgivings I accepted this position; and now I was President of two
organizations.
In
the handling my responsibilities of this second more demanding positon I
gradually began to understand what the comment had meant. As I continued in my
responsibilities I oversaw many changes to both organizations and years passed
I began thinking about how I could relieve myself of at least one if not both
of these demanding positions. I was
working full time as an entrepreneur, our family was growing and changing,
responsibilities for each organization was becoming more intense and I needed
an exit strategy.
Now that comment began to make sense - and
I decided to put the question directly to the person who had originally posed
it to me, “What did you mean when you told me I had to focus on planning for my
replacement?” He smiled and he started by fist telling me what a great job I
was doing and then went on to tell me, on the many boards he had served on he
had learned one thing, that senior board positions are difficult to fill and if
I wanted someone to carry on with the strategic process I had started I needed
to find and put in place several people who I felt might one day be able to
step into my shoes.
Suddenly it all made sense, for several
years I had been second guessing myself and I finally realized that this has just been a piece of advice from someone
who understand the burden of leadership and what it takes to carry on the
important work of not for profits. I
understood in that moment it takes time and effort to create a succession plan
that would allow for seamless transition in leadership.
I have since left both organizations and
passed on the mantle of leadership to capable leaders who have worked to
improve the reality for each of these organizations. I have not forgotten this important lesson
and I often see it play out in those I connect with in my everyday business
experience – leaders doing great work who have not thought ahead to the day
when they want to reduce their role and have a capable replacement to carry on the important work of their
organization.
